The trend sees big companies such as CVS Health, State Street, and American Express evolving small hiring programs for opportunity youth, driven by corporate social responsibility, into core business strategy . The strategy offers them a rare trifecta: It’s good for the company, youth, and society.

Ethan, Prisma and Fabiana walked away from the Opportunity Youth Fair and Forum in Phoenix last fall with job offers from Starbucks. After a year on the job, the three young adults say they’ve received something even more vital and far-reaching: opportunities.

The business case for hiring opportunity youth is compelling, with retention differences ranging from 20-plus percent to three times higher in the companies we studied. Retention alone provides a significant ROI.

Scott and Ally Svenson weren’t planning to become entrepreneurs again.
The husband-and-wife team had already created two food empires: Seattle Coffee Company, which they sold to Starbucks (SBUX), and Italian restaurant chain Carluccio’s. They thought they were done.

Companies all across America are increasingly experiencing a shortage of skilled, entry-level IT talent. As a result, tech executives are having a difficult time hiring, which hinders their ability to expand and develop new technologies. Not only has recruiting become a constant challenge in the IT world, but employee retention has become one as well.

Meg Garlinghouse leads LinkedIn For Good, a social impact program at LinkedIn, which leverages the world’s leading social network for professionals to make positive impacts around the world. On her own LinkedIn profile, she describes herself as “connecting talent with opportunity at massive scale to change the world.” We caught a few minutes with her at SB’16 San Diego in June to learn more.

Swiss Post Solutions, a world-class provider of outsourcing services and industry employer of choice, joined a panel of Human Resource experts at a recent conference hosted by JobsFirstNYC and the Young Invincibles, two highly established employment assistance organizations. Chief People Officer, Russ Cusick represented SPS on the panel, which also included hiring executives from other companies and organizations.

The chief purpose of our nation’s education and workforce system is to make economic mobility possible for all Americans. While there are many drivers of economic mobility, educational attainment is a considerable contributor.

The Rockefeller Foundation, Incandescent and Knack released the findings of a study on the potential of data-driven hiring approaches to expand employment opportunities for disadvantaged youth in the United States. Hannah Kuchler covered the study in an article in the Financial Times.